CONCORD, N.C. – In both of their third career starts at Sonoma Raceway, Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman each brought home top-10 finishes for Hendrick Motorsports.
With the results, Elliott finishing in fourth and Bowman earning a ninth-place effort, each driver also captured their best-career finishes at the 1.99-mile, 10-turn venue.
“It was a lot more fun, this trip out here, than it was the last two times,” Elliott said. “I made a lot of gains, personally. This track has been one of my worst. To come here and have pace on Friday and qualify good on Saturday, and to have pace today, it was just a lot more fun.
Elliott led his teammates to the green flag in third, and consistent racing saw the driver of the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 stay near the top of the field for a majority of the day.
He earned a fourth-place finish in the opening segment and moved into second by the end of Stage 2 after choosing to stay on the track during a cycle of green-flag pit stops.
“We elected to try to get stage points in each stage and obviously when you do that, that sets you back for the final one,” Elliott said. “Fortunately, I had a good enough car to drive forward and get back in the top five. Solid afternoon for us and looking forward to the next road race. That was a lot of fun.”
After being shuffled to 16th at the beginning of the final segment, Elliott quickly battled his way toward the front and was back inside the top five by Lap 74. He moved as high as second with under 15 laps to go, and stayed in the top five en route to the fourth-place result.
“I appreciate everyone on my NAPA team working hard this weekend,” Elliott stated after the 110-lap race. “We had a fast Chevrolet all three days. That’s nice to show up and get rhythm.”
Like Elliott, Bowman steadily gained positions throughout the day to join his teammate inside the top 10. A strategic call by crew chief Greg Ives to keep the driver of the No. 88 Axalta Chevrolet on track during the first stage break provided Bowman with a 10th-place restart position at the beginning of Stage 2.
That call helped Bowman finish Stage 2 in seventh, and even more solid pit strategy in the final segment helped the driver capture his fifth top-10 finish of the season.
“I feel like I learned some today,” Bowman said. “Definitely made some mistakes and there is plenty I can improve on to keep getting better and learning. That is all we can really ask for.”